One thing about six year olds; when they wanted something badly enough, they were more than willing to do what they were told to get it. The boys of Australia were no different, their counselors found. They hustled to their cabin with only a minimum amount of distraction, and immediately set about getting ready for bed, throwing their clothes all over their beds in the search for pajamas.

Ian scowled when he came out of the bathroom, dressed in only sweats and ready or bed as well. Sammy had his shit strewn from one side of the bed to the other – and on the floor in front of and under his lower bunk.

"Where are you planning on sleeping?" he asked the boy, who was now dressed in a pair of plaid pajamas.

"On my bed," Sammy said, looking at the scars on Ian's chest. "Does that hurt?"

"No." Ian looked at the bed, which was piled deep. "You can't sleep on your clothes."

"Why not?"

"They'll get wrinkled."

"So?"

Ian sighed, well aware that he wasn't so much worried about the clothes getting wrinkled as he was appalled at the mess that had been made in such a short time. None of the other kids had made such a mess – and Shawn and River were almost as neat and tidy as Ian himself.

"Just put your extra stuff on this bed," Ian said, pointing to the empty lower bunk next to Sammy's. "And keep it off the floor. You don't want any spiders or something climbing into your clothes…"

Sammy looked down, as if expecting to find bugs crawling all over him.

"Ian…"

He looked over to find River had joined them. The Californian was only wearing sweats, too, but while Ian's sweats were a dark navy blue, River's were bright orange and were already making Ian's eyes water.

"What?"

"Just help him move his stuff. It's too late for a lecture."

Ian scowled at his roommate, but shrugged, looking down at the boy.

"Here. You grab the sh- stuff on the floor, and I'll get the stuff from your bed…"

He moved to do just that, as several of the other boys came over to help, and it only took minutes before the entire area was cleaned up and there was a huge pile of clothes on the bed beside Sammy's.

Shawn came out of the bathroom, also dressed in sweats. It didn't take much to figure out what was going on, and Shawn was, after all, a genius.

"Good job guys, now hop into bed."

There was a mad scramble as the boys did what they were told, and they all turned to Ian, looking eager. He sighed, but a deal was a deal.

"All right, it all started when this guy I know – Andrew – and I went up to his grandparent's cabin in the woods, not too far from here…"

The story wasn't all that long, but it was interesting – and maybe a little scary – for the boys. Several times they interrupted with questions, but Ian didn't allow the interruptions to last long. Instead, he told the story – with a little editing, since there were definitely parts that shouldn't be shared with anyone, including the six-year-old boys.

Sammy, who was lying in his bed right beside where Ian was standing, reached out and took Ian's hand, looking at it curiously.

"Is that the scar?" he asked, looking at a small scar onthe back of Ian's hand.

Ian looked, and then shook his head. He turned his hand over, and showed Sammy the palm of his hand, where there was a faint line from Fraiser's stitches.

"That's the scar, right there."

"What's the other scar from?" Sammy asked, as Bruce leaned over from his bed to look at Ian's hand, too.

"Something else," Ian said, definitely not willing to talk about being shot just then. It was a wonder the kids hadn't noticed the scar on his abdomen, yet. Or maybe they were too enthralled by the whole bear thing to notice just then. "I'll tell you later. Maybe."

Since the bell had already rang, and the lights were supposed to be out, River made sure all the kids were in bed, and then reached up and hit the light switch, leaving them all in the dark.

"Bed time, guys!"

There were groans, but no outright mutiny, and Ian pulled himself up into his own top bunk, biting back a curse when he barked his shin on the wooden rail that was designed to keep the kids from rolling off in the night. The bed was too short, the mattress too thin and hard, and there was a cricket outside that was just starting to make noise. Or maybe it always had been and they just hadn't heard it over the sound of his story.

It was no surprise, then, that it took him forever to go to sleep. The only surprise was that he managed to fall asleep at all.

OOOOOOOOOOO

A hand on his bare shoulder woke him from his sleep.

"Ian?"

The whispered voice was close enough that Ian could feel the warm breath of the speaker, and when he opened his eyes, he found Sammy's face no more than a couple inches from his own. He moved back a little, barely able to make out the boy's face in the faint light coming from the window on the other side of the room.

"What?"

"I heard a noise."

"What?"

"I heard a noise…"

Ian rubbed his face, looking at his watch. It was two AM.

"It was probably just your imagination," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."

"It was outside…" Sammy whispered back, his little face pale and nervous. "What if it was a bear?"

"It's not a bear."

"It sounds like one…"

Ian listened, but didn't hear anything but the sound of all the others sleeping; several softly snoring and one mumbling in his sleep.

"I don't hear anything, Sammy. Go back to sleep."

"But-"

"Go to bed before I tie you to you mattress."

The little boy hesitated, his eyes still frightened, and Ian sighed when he realized that he wasn't going to be able to brush him off like he wanted to.

"Look, if I go make sure there's nothing out there, will you go back to bed?"

Sammy nodded.

"Fine. Go to bed."

Ian slid out of bed, dropping soundlessly to the floor and he waited until Sammy slid back under the blankets – although the boy was still watching him with his big hazel eyes.

He crossed the room to the door, and opened it silently, which immediately woke River – which was the whole point of him sleeping by the door, right?

"What's up?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing."

"Then what are-"

"Sammy thought he heard something," Ian whispered. The last thing he needed was for all the other kids to wake up, too. "I told him I'd go look."

River nodded, and lay back down.

"Have fun."

Ian scowled and slipped out the door, closing it behind him. So much for hoping Hayden would go look for him, huh? He shivered; despite the fact that it was summer, it was the middle of the night up in the mountains, and all Ian was wearing were sweats. After a minute of looking around and not seeing anything, Ian shrugged and went back inside.

"Anything?" River whispered.

"Nah."

Ian went back over to his bunk, and knelt down in front of Sammy, who was sitting up in his bed.

"There wasn't anything out there, okay?"

The little boy nodded.

"Go back to sleep, okay?"

Sammy nodded again, and Ian hopped back up onto his bed, once more barking his shin on the wooden railing.

Shit.